So Scream Like You Mean It
by beemanic
Summary: Halloween-Themed! "Do you want to play a game, Deidara?" I never believed in Karma, just like I never believed I would see him again. Who knew the skeletons in my closet were bad enough to land us in a game where our very lives were the prize? DeiXOC
1. It All Started When

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!** Hell yeah, Halloween fic! Yeah, I know - I still have a crapload of things that need updating. Especially 'Eternally Yours,' x.x But with Halloween coming - and me being hyped up on meds 'cause I'm all sick - I decided hell to all that and wrote up a Halloween-themed fic. No, it's not a one-shot. My intention was to do that, but it would've been a million pages long - since there had to be backround, or it wouldn't have made any sense at all. xD

Anyway, this is very loosely based on the 'Saw' movies. Not completly, but it follows some of those principles. Blah, blah, blah and I should also mention that this is part flashback and part story-telling. But it'll switch to real time in the middle of the next chapter. Alright, I'll seriously shut up now and let you all read. xD Reviews are love!

**DISCLAIMER! **I do not - in any way or form - own Naruto or any of it's charaters. Only Shii is my own. Also, all references or similarity to Saw is done in the good of fanfictional writing - as I obviously do not own that series either. Or Adam would have lived and beat up Jigsaw. xDD

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**01. "It All Started When... "**

There are times in everybody's life when they say to themselves, 'Oh crap, did I make a mistake?!'

For some, this dreaded time of uncertainty comes on a more regular basis; others have been lucky enough to have this feeling visit them only a few times. Unfortunately, I was one of those people who have had Lady Luck bitch slap them in the face and walk away, laughing. And even more unfortunately - so was..._He._

Who is _He_, you may ask? It's pretty simple actually. _He _is the cause for all of this - this god damned mess I was in. I hope Satsujin rips him from piece to piece for all of this shit. But in saying that, I'm totally getting ahead of myself. You're probably sitting at your T.V. screen, watching the sick live feed as I'm talking to the camera, aren't you? And you're probably wondering how the Hell I got myself into this, eh?

I know, right now you're probably looking around your comfy little living room just as I said that, huh? No - there aren't any cameras in your house, watching you. I'm just good enough at reading the human's psyche that I could calculate a pretty accurate response to that statement. Don't worry, I'm not watching you.

Well, at least not in the way you're watching _me _right now. But that comes in later. I'll make the story quick - just in case Satsujin decides to interrupt the feed.

In case I die here - which may be very, very likely - I want people to know about me. I...I don't want to die alone and unknown. I need a legacy - or at least one person to understand. Since I know _he _won't ever understand, not like he used to anyway. But like I said, I'll get to that later.

So I think I'll start at the beginning. This would put us...In my junior year of high school.

Yep, it all began in high school - that day we got those transfer students...

* * *

**Art Class. Room 261. **

**10:45 AM - September 7th, 2006**

The monotonous voice of our teacher droned out the voices of my classmates. He went on through the list of 27 or so students, and finally arrived at my name.

"Densetsu, Ashita?" the middle-aged man spoke dully, looking up. I lifted my head form my arms and raised my hand to signal my presence. As soon as I caught him marking me as 'present' I let my head drop back into my folded arms - waiting for the blissful, time-wasting glory that was sleep to overtake me.

"Alright, class..." the teacher began. I looked up, surprised. What was this? The monotone-man usually sits around reading his Sports Illustrated, while we just do nothing. That much was established about this year's art class; we sit around, chat a bit or do homework. Or, in my case, sleep the forty minutes away. I saw others look up as well - apparently I wasn't the only surprised one.

"Today, we had a few new students that came into Konoha High. I'm sure you may have heard of them," the male droned on, "I'd like to introduce the new addition to our class."

With a lazy wave of his hand, he gestured to the door. A young teen - looking around my age, maybe a year older, stepped inside the plain - if not decently large - room. I allowed my sapphire eyes to widen a tad with surprise.

He was pretty tall - not like I was one to speak, at my tiny height of only five-foot-two - and had fair skin. No seriously, there wasn't a single blemish on his face. His pale complexion rivaled my own - making me slightly jealous, as I was always the one to be complemented for my pretty, and light skin. A single, bright, teal eye was visible - as the other was hidden by his long, blonde bangs. _My God, his hair! _If I said I was slightly jealous, now I was officially bitten by the green monster.

I always liked to think my hair was thick, lustrous, and very pretty. It was of a raven hue - naturally - and was cropped short in layers that framed my face nicely. But this guy...His long, golden hair looked immaculately cared for, and hung down to his mid-back. A part of it was tied into a high ponytail, and bangs covered a side of his face. He looked slightly feminine, but that only made him seem even..._more _attractive.

As the teacher dribbled on about his name and other unimportant things, I secretly admired how he made the bland uniforms we were all required to wear look amazing. Damn, this boy has some kind of talent. He had rolled the sleeves of the long-sleeved white shirt up to his elbows, and the grey sweater-vest that was required fit his body very nicely. It didn't hang off him or anything - unlike with the other males in the school. The matching grey slacks fit his slender figure, and was cut to his size perfectly, as he most likely had it custom tailored.

I raised a slender eyebrow at this thought, thinking that he must have some money to his name - unlike the rest of us. Konoha High was as poor as the students that attended it. And yet this boy...This boy with his brand-new messenger bag which put all of ours to shame...Why was he here?

"Yes, yes. You may take that empty seat over there," the droned buzz snapped me out of my thoughts. There was rustling, and it seemed that every head in the whole classroom turned to look at me. I cocked my head to the side; _why are they staring at me?!_

The answer came to me as I caught sight of the empty seat next to me, and the gorgeous 'new guy' walking towards it. Okay, _walking_ doesn't quite cover it. It was more of a graceful stride and - Oh crap, I'm totally fangirling. And he was slowly coming to sit next to me. Oh crap, oh crap.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do you, yeah?" a mellow, deep voice asked. I coughed and looked up at the teen - who had already taken the seat and was lounging in the plastic, blue chair lazily.

"No, 'course not." I replied with a tiny grin, "Not like there's anywhere else to sit, anyway."

"Good point," he agreed, idly moving a sting of hair back into place, "So, you're name is...?"

"Ashita. But you can call me Shii - everyone does," I answered, fiddling with the strap of my worn-out bag.

"Shii, huh? Well _Shii, _what have you guys done yet?" the teen questioned as he reached into his bag and pulled out a pencil. I shrugged, not knowing how to answer.

"Nothing, I guess. Think of it as a study hall." I looked at him, and noticed his affronted expression. Did I say something wrong...?

"Bullshit!" he whispered rather fiercely. I shrugged and lay my head in my hands once more.

"And so is the academic excellence of Konoha High," I quipped, shooting him a grin. He snorted and stuck the pencil behind his ear, crossing his arms.

"Not like you kids have any talent, yeah. But still," he muttered. I once again found myself raising an eyebrow.

"_Us_ kids? And what do you mean by that?" I shot at him - ignoring the few heads that turned at my loud accusation. The blonde smirked lopsidedly, and shrugged a single shoulder.

"What do you think it means?" he responded airily, cerulean eyes sparkling with mischief. I sniffed primly, and regarded him as such.

"Well, I think it means we have a challenge..." I hesitated, and remembered that I hadn't caught his name before. Catching my mistake, the boy smirked crookedly once more.

"The name's Deidara, yeah."

"Well then," I muttered, "It looks like we have a challenge _Deidara_, now does it?"

* * *

**Lunch. Cafeteria.**

**12:15 PM. September 7th, 2006.**

I was sitting outside, situated against my usual oak tree with my peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich in hand. I was on the verge of taking that first less-than-filling bite, until a hand (complete with black-painted fingernails) snatched it out of my hands.

"What _is _this, hmm?" a stately little sniff followed the haughty comment. I glared at the responsible blonde, and attempted to snatch it back out of his hands.

"Gimme my precious food back! I'm hungry, dammit!" I growled, and found myself jumping up in a vain attempt to get my food back. Damn that boy.

"How can you stand this stuff? I pity you Shii, yeah," was his only reply. I was still jumping around; unfortunately his tall-ness against my five-foot-ness foiled my food-retrieval mission.

"It's not like I can get any better, alright?" I shot back, and stopped my jumping, "I'm hungry. Now..._Please_, give me my lunch back, Deidara."

"I'll be damned if you're eating this, yeah. In exchange for giving me such an amusing challenge before, I'll treat you to lunch. Deal?" the blonde grinned down at me. I crossed my arms in response.

"Oh really?" I stalled, wondering if he was bullshitting me or not. After all, I did just meet him less than two hours ago.

"Really," he replied sincerely, "Besides, what's such a lovely young girl doing eating lunch by herself, hmm?"

"She's enjoying some peace and quiet from guys like you," I replied, following him as he walked in the direction of the school's office. He laughed charmingly at this, and dumped my poor sandwich into a nearby trashcan.

"You have wit, Shii. I'll give you that much so far, yeah."

* * *

Honestly, I can't say if I regret going for lunch with him or not. Deidara was such a charming guy - not to mention drop dead gorgeous, of course - and who was I to refuse him? People may have complemented my looks, or my sarcastic wit, but that didn't really mean I had many _real_ friends. Many people regarded me as that funny girl in their class. Not funny enough to hang out with, but cool enough to talk to for a bit before that bell rang.

So can you blame me for jumping at this opportunity? I could tell he had a great personality, and he was sharp enough for me to have conversation with. I didn't care if he was interested in me in a girlfriend-boyfriend way or not, so I allowed him to get close to me.

He made my Art class and lunch the best periods of the day. Because I knew I would always have someone to talk to. I guess you could say we just 'clicked'.

I found out he was an amazing artist - not only in drawing, but in sculpting as well. He never spoke of his family - but I only assumed that it was because he didn't want to gain popularity because of their money. He found out I was pretty good with a pencil and paper as well. I knew I wasn't as good as him, but it was something we could talk about. He found out that my parents had divorced, and that I lived in a two-bedroom apartment with my father. He found out my father worked in an office somewhere, but spent all his earnings on going to get me a good education.

Deidara found out my pastimes were watching anime, drawing and that I attempted to learn how to 'glow stick'. He also found out my favorite colors were lilac and black, that I loved to eat vanilla ice cream - soft serve, with rainbow sprinkles on a cone -, and that I was horrible at DDR.

So you see, I let him know more about me than I knew about him. All I knew was that he came from a well-off family, he used Herbal Essences shampoo and a wet-to-dry flat iron, and that he occasionally would smoke. Well, not counting his amazing artistic abilities, of course.

I never was a person who wanted to know more about a person than they would let on - at least, not until after high school I wasn't. In that way, I was never suspicious that he got all his money, or his nice clothes, or his expensive sports car from anywhere other than his parents. I wouldn't have ever thought anything bad about the gorgeous boy in my art class named Deidara. Looking back, I decided that there is a word for people like that - _Naive_. I was a foolish, naive, high school girl at that point in time.

Through that September and October, I regarded him as one of those people I could tell anything to. I saw that he in turn regarded me with interest, and I was continually surprising him with my personality. I began to let him drive me home, and we would talk about the most random things during the short drive.

I admit, he could get on my nerves with his biting sarcasm, but like I said - it was fun to talk with someone would could meet my wit. And then...

It all came to an end. I still remember talking to him on Goosey Night - about silly things, like if he was going to egg anyone's house. He smiled that crooked smile I'd come to love (and then miss terribly) but I caught a flicker of emotion in his usually sparkling teal eye. It worried me for a second, but then he told me that he wasn't much interested in this night of mischief; in turn, we began a conversation about how other teens needed to grow up. So I thought nothing of that spilt-second dark shadow.

But then, on the next day - Halloween - he vanished. Just like that. He never came into school anymore after that day.

And that was the first time - on Halloween night, as children were laughing and screaming with mirth out side my very window - I cried myself to sleep. To this day, I don't know why I was foolish enough to do so. Maybe it was because I felt that he had somehow betrayed me; probably because I had the frame of mind that he would always be there for me to speak to.

It was terrible at first, that uncontrollable feeling of loss. No one I knew - no one at all that I spoke to - seemed to know what happened to him. The first few months after that were terrible. Until my father finally told me that he had heard his parents moved away - to Los Angeles, he thought.

Soon - too soon, in fact, high school ended. I graduated with decent grades, and got accepted into collage. I bid my farewell to my father and thanked him for all the opportunities he gave me. I moved away, and into a small studio my father gave me as a graduation gift. I thought nothing of the fact that it was in L.A. - for by this point in time I was slowly beginning to forget my friend.

That is...Until that fateful day.

When both out lives collided in the most twisted of ways. And that is where the story shall go on.

For - ironically - the fateful day of when we met again was exactly two years after he disappeared.

On Halloween night.

* * *

**KAZ SPEAKS!** Oh yeah, I'm so cool. xD I think the concept was pretty well-thought out, huh? Hmm, I should get hyped up on cough meds more often! (Kidding!) xD

Anyway, everything that happened in Art or Lunch was a flashback, in case you were wondering. :D I think I might've overdone Shii's description of Deidara, but oh well. I'm not complaining. There are some questions left unanswered, Im aware of that. It's done purposely - and everything will be revealed as the story goes on.

I should also mention that 'Satsujin' is the Japanese word for 'Murder'. Hmm, kind of like the Jigsaw alias, huh? -mysterious music plays- xD Only time - and how fast I type - will tell!

So review please! I need feedback! Reviews are candied love!!

**EDIT!** As of 10/30/2008 - I fixed all the little grammar errors, since I didn't have time to do so before. Also, a few more sentences have been added as well. Sorry for not fixing this before (since I usually go through a severe edit-conditioning process before posting each chapter. xD)


	2. My Twisted Darling

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE!** Oh my God, I'm so late with this. T.T It was supposed to be out on Halloween - you know, for the mood. -sigh- Now my evil plans have been shot. Oh well, better late than never, I guess. Also, the lyrics on the first part here -points downward- are from Aiden's cover of "White Wedding". It's a great song, I tell you. Also! On the topic of songs - this story will be closely tied with music. Veeeeery close. So be warned. :D Oh, the second bit of lyrics in the first part are from My Chemical Romance's "It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish". Haha, title makes me laugh. Anyway, I'll shut up and let you all read. Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER! **I own nothing, but Shii. So there. Saw, Naruto, and other songs belong to their corresponding owners - a.k.a Not me. So there.

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**02. "My Twisted Darling"**

_Hey little sister, what have you done?_

_Hey little sister, whose the only one?_

**Apartment 301. Floor 15.**

**8:47 AM. October 31st, 2008. **

As the soft sounds of guitar floated into my room, a single sapphire eye opened. It was soon followed by the other one, and I slowly sat up on the full sized bed that was my place of rest. Vainly trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes, I swung my legs up and over my bed, allowing my feet to hit the chilly wooden floors of my apartment with a nearly inaudible _thud_. As I rose, my soft, cushy fleece blankets fell to the floor, exposing me to the chilly air. Unconsciously, I shivered (for I was only clad in a baggy, thin white shirt and black shorts) and shoved delicate, small feet into furry slippers. Grateful for the tiny warmth on so unusually cold a morning, I idly walked to the living room area while rubbing the goosebumps off my arms.

Separated from my bedroom by two massive, hanging movie posters for _The Crow_ lay the sparse furniture of my living area. Two black sofas were strewn in the space, almost like two awkward guests at a party. They were decent in condition, and soft to the touch. Smack in the middle of the room stood my precious T.V. I had been saving up for a while to buy it, and the huge, plasma screen was definitely worth it. On a stand next to it, played my stereo.

I wafted over to it, picking up a blood red robe on the way, and turned off the rock music that was floating from it. As the room was plunged into silence, I sighed to myself, and felt suddenly out of place. It was such a strange, ominous feel and I didn't like it one bit. I shivered quite a bit, and wrapped the crimson rope closer around my body. The hairs at the bottom of my neck began to prickle, and I looked around the studio apartment tentatively, half expecting something to jump out at me. When nothing came after a few moments, I coughed and shuffled back into the bedroom section.

But that's when my narrowed eyes caught it. The giant, poster-like calendar that I had hung over my bed. But more specifically, my now-wide eyes had caught the circled date on the October calendar.

Today was October 31st, 2008.

Today was Halloween.

Today was two years since _he _had left.

The immediate sinking, churning feeling in my abdomen was not welcome at all. I tore my gaze form the wretched date and walked - or more correctly, stomped - over to my dresser, of varnished white wood. The paint had long begun to wear away and was cracked in places. Idly, I began to run a thin, pale finger over the chipping wood. I raised my head, and found myself face-to-face with my reflection in the wrought iron mirror.

The girl in the looking glass had a face that looked like it had once been very healthy, but her complexion had thinned, now only holding traces of her former prettiness. Her eyes had dark bags under them from lack of sleep, yet the deep, sparkling sapphire irises still stood bright and crisp on her features. Raven hair had been grown out to her mid-back, and was cut in layers, along with bangs that had grown enough to reach her naturally-curved eyelashes.

I stared at the girl I had become since I left high school and the comforts of home. I was far from what people would call 'ugly', and I still held my clean, pale complexion. I supposed I was till somewhat recognizable from the girl that I was two years ago. But such deep, musing thoughts were unwelcome - mostly because my mind would twist things over and over again till they were all but physically painful. With a huff, I tore my gaze away from the mirror and opened the drawers with a stronger pull that what was needed. Snatching up some clean clothes and undergarments, I walked back through my _The Crow_ posters and into the bathroom. Sending one last peek throughout my apartment, I closed the door and - for the first times in many weeks - locked it.

* * *

One extremely comforting-and-steaming-hot shower later, I was in my room area, dressing. I suddenly thought about how my wardrobe had changed over the course of the past two years. Instead of the regular denim jeans I had worn, they were slowly replaced by tight-fitting, black skinny jeans. My plain-old shirts were taken over by obscenely-colorful assortments that usually included buckles, studs, and other things like that. Finally, the sneakers that I had thought I would never give up for the world? Yeah, those were replaced by massive, black combat-like boots - with a bit of heel to them.

I sat on my un-made bed and buckled up the boots absent-mindedly. It wasn't until I realized I had been buckling the same boot for the past ten minutes that I snapped out of it.

Running a hand thought my layered hair, I wafted over to my closet and dug out a faded black and long sleeved top. But as I was about to slip it on, something caught my eye.

A flash of teal jumped out at me, and I threw the other shirt unto my bed carelessly. Reaching out, I grabbed a strapless, bright teal top and examined it. Vaguely, I remembered mischievous, shining cerulean eyes and the sick churning feeling visited me again. With a sharp gasp, I saw that the shirt I held matched **his** eyes _perfectly_.

When did I buy it? I couldn't remember.

Why did I buy it? I couldn't remember that either.

Will I wear it? ...I didn't know.

Looking around once more, I felt...Strange. It was such an alien feeling, but I felt like wearing the shirt.

As thin digits pulled the tight, corset-like top over my torso, I felt suddenly stupid. Why did I even bother remembering _him_? It's not like he cared at all anymore. Hell, he probably forgot I even existed. With a sigh, I ran a hand through my straight, raven hair and walked out of the bedroom-section. It was pointless to cloud my mind with such thoughts anyway.

As I was about to leave the apartment, a blast of rock music burst from the stereo.

_For what you did to me, and what I'll do to you,  
You get what everyone else gets.  
You get a lifetime!!_

"Shit!" I cursed, trying to calm down my pounding heart. Why did my stereo turn on all of a sudden? I looked around - once again feeling like something was about to pop out at me - and then noticed that I had stepped on the remote of the stereo.

Now feeling foolish, I quickly snatched it up as the epic guitar riffs - played by My Chemical Romance's (God, I love that band) Ray Toro and Frank Iero - filled my room. Pushing the tiny red button of power, my stereo complied and shut off.

I grabbed my favorite, black leather motorist's jacket and slipped it on. Zipping it up, I grabbed my house keys and headed out the door.

After all, I still had a few hours until the event. So why not enjoy them?

Who knows, they might even be my last.

* * *

**Route 54 - CONDEMNED. City Limit's Station - CLOSED.**

**11:01 PM. October 31st, 2008.**

"Yo! Shii! Shii!!" a male voice shouted out, addressing me. I turned my head a fraction of an inch towards the one who spoke, and saw a boy with spiked, light brown hair waving frantically at me while running over. His boots thunked loudly on the asphalt as he ran over to me; other gang members looked at him with raised eyebrows, or chuckled darkly at the sight. I, however, sent him a light smile.

"Hey yourself, Aisu," I replied to the sixteen-year-old male with a small wave of my gloved hand. Nearly tripping over his own massive combat boots as he came to a halt by my side, the boy panted and tried to regain his breath before he spoke again. The sight made me laugh softly. Such a cute kid.

"Don't go choking on me, kid," I quipped, watching as he straightened up and grinned up at me.

"I won't. Well, not until I see you totally win this one!" the words came out rushed, much too fast and ended up slurring into a rapid chatter that very few people would be capable of understanding. I, however, after knowing the teen for a few months now, was able to understand him fine.

"I don't know," I sighed, taking in a deep breath, "You can never plan out these things."

"Meh," he stuck out a pierced tongue in disagreement, "That's what you said last time. But you ended up burning the strip anyway, and taking the prize money! Fifty grand, huh?"

I watched warily as other people around us - most with tattoos, piercings, and tight leather clothing - began to look over at the hyper active boy in front of me with curiosity.

"Aisu, there's no reason to talk about that here. Remember the fight that followed my 'burning up the strip'? We _don't_ need anther one, got it?"

The boy looked at me through piercing jade eyes and nodded rapidly. I grinned at the scared look he had, and poked his nose playfully. In turn, he shot me a sheepish look and sat down on the hood of 'Mirainao' - A.K.A. the car that I had been driving under the gang 'Rinniban' for the past few months. Aisu was my grease monkey-in-training. So to speak, anyway.

"Don't dent the hood," I cautioned idly, watching the other gang members talk amongst themselves. Suddenly, with a feeling of nostalgia, my mind drank over the past few two years and how much had changed.

First off, collage hadn't gone as planned; I was still taking courses, but my whole - ahem - _business_ started up with the lack of funds. Oh, how many sleepless nights I had endured back then...

But before I could further think, the horn blew a shrill whistle - signaling the start of the race. Aisu practically leaped off the shining black hood of my car in his haste. Idly, or rather distantly, I chuckled, and felt as if something was out of place once more. Not liking the feeling as before, I looked around as all the other racers and their gangs surrounded the corresponding cars.

Vaguely, I could hear Aisu calling me - telling me that I should get in the car before the rest of Rinniban arrived, only to have me miss the big event. Shrugging him off, I waved him away and began to wander away from the group. Sapphire eyes were narrowed slightly, and watching for...For...

Hell, I didn't even know what I was looking for.

Feeling foolish suddenly, I was about to turn around to meet back up with Aisu before...I saw...Something.

My eyes flashed in the same direction, desperately looking for...There it was again! My eyes shot open, as the speed my heart was going at hiked up dramatically - causing me to wheeze for breath.

For what did my eyes see, but a swatch of long, golden hair? The same hair that I had been so jealous of, that I had wanted to tug playfully, and the hair that I desperately wanted to straighten.

It was _his _hair. Here. At the track.

Which meant _he_ was here. At the track. Right before I had to pull a victory worth over a hundred grand out of my ass.

Damn, Lady Luck just hates me.

My breath began coming in short gasps, and my eyes followed suit by tearing up, thus blurring my vision. With a gloved hand, I immediately flicked away the tears and scanned the area, thinking - maybe even hoping - that I was just imagining things.

But no - my heart leapt once more as I caught the flash of golden hair once more, and this time I kept my gaze on it.

Following the high ponytail down, I saw that same face - whose complexion rivaled my own with it paleness and clarity - I even was lucky enough to catch a flash of shining cerulean eyes.

He was dressed as most of us were - in tight, black jeans (I was just able to spot two chains dangling from his left hip) and capped off by massive combat boots. Even though I had worn my favorite leather jacket for warmth, he was only wearing what looked to be a simple black, sleeveless top. From where I was so obviously staring, he didn't seem to mind the chilly weather.

In the back of my mind, I could almost hear the warning buzz of the track's horn, signaling the race's near-start, but nothing mattered. I had...I had actually found _him. _

As a gust of wind blast through the bridge we were all under, his long hair blew out - and now I was positive it was _him. _No other male could have blonde hair like that. Even if they tried.

But something else also caught my eye. His expression was blurred by the distance between us, yet I could still catch the sense of urgency. He looked around - once, twice, three times - before turning to another male in front of him. The shadows hid the other one, so I could not determine their identity. But even if I could, I wouldn't have dared take my gaze off of _him_.

So - unbeknownst to them - I watched as they appeared to shake hands, yet I knew that money was being exchanged. Perhaps a lot of money.

Sadly, this was the first time the thought that _he _dealt in anything unlawful business came to me.

But no time was to be wasted on my mind's idle thoughts, because I then caught the frustrated, then furious expression on his usually (at least, from the way I remembered it) smooth face. My heart raced faster and faster, and many images of the fights I had witnessed in the past few months came to memory. Oh my God, I couldn't let that happen to _him. _Not now, not when I've found him.

Unconsciously, I took a few steps closer to them. But by now, my sharp ears caught angered voices - both male - and I watched the many emotions fly thought his angered features. As I took a few more uncertain steps, I caught that expression that I knew was the red flag - the expression of fear and mingled shock.

Which - 99.9% chance - meant that a gun had been pulled on him, and he was foolish enough to be unarmed.

With that (without me even being sure), I broke into a full run, waving madly.

"Shit!! Deidara! Deidara!!" I cried, a single hot tear dripping down my palled cheek. He stirred, and looked around frantically, his eyes landing on me a split second later. I caught pure shock, then undisguised fear.

I knew he was about to speak, but then...The unthinkable.

I finally reached him - was about to embrace him - until we were separated by a terrible force.

I was knocked to the ground, winded and unable to move. A rag was held to my face, and as I was about to scream, I breathed in and almost instantaneously fell unconscious. But not before...

Not before I saw him, blonde tresses flying wildly, roughly pushed down before me. There was a gunshot, and a terrible scream. I saw a flash of wide cerulean, and my vision blurred.

I felt rough hands on my arms, pulling me, no doubt, and that was all. Well, not really. There was one last thing and - I'll be damned if not - it was worth it.

Because, before I fully slipped into unconsciousness, I heard _him_ - I heard _Deidara_, say it.

**My name**.

"Shii..."

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**KAZ SPEAKS! **Aww, I kinda liked the last bit. Hee hee, it was cute-ish. There was supposed to be more, but I got lazy and said 'screw it'. Haha. But, it made for a faster update, so you shouldn't be complaining.

Anyway, BIG BIG BIG thanks go to my two (not counting Yasmin, xD Psst! She's my other biffle!) reveiwers. Hopefully, this chapter made you...Happy? It's kinda Horror-ish, so if that floats you're boat, then go ahead.

Also! On the topic of horror, THERE WILL BE CHARACTER DEATH IN THE STORY. Duh. I'm not saying if it's minor or major characters who die, so don't ask. xD But I would think, since it's based on 'Saw', that you should know there will be death. So yeah.

As always, reviews are very much loved, and they make me update faster. Tee hee. SO REVIEW!

P.S. I will soon be posting a link to a pic of Shii on my profile, so look for that coming soon.


	3. Let The Games Begin, Shall We?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE! **Okay, so I was going to update on Friday but school's out for today and tomorrow. I literally sat down this morning, grabbed an ice-cold bottle of Snapple's Iced-Tea, and began to write this. Frankly, I feel kinda sick writing this because some - not all - of the traps that will be used were thought up be me. And I find it freaky that I'm coming up with ways to kill people. But it's for the good of fanfiction - and because I didn't want to copy off the Saw traps. (I'm not a psycho killer, thank you very much)

Anyway, once again **major** kudos to all those that reviewed. If I didn't reply yet, I'm sorry and I'll reply to you right after I'm done posting this. My inbox is seriously a mess, what with 1,000-plus unread messages. xD Also, this is the longest chapter to date; it reached seven pages in Microsoft Word, with over 3,700 words. Okay, now I'll stop rambling and let you read in peace. I hope you enjoy this! And...I'm praying Deidara was kept in character. -sweatdrop-

**DISCLAIMER! **In no way or part do I own Naruto, it's concept or it's characters. I only own Shii - and the concept of this story is loosely based on the 'Saw' series (which I don't own either, as much as I love it).

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**03. "Let The Games Begin, Shall We?"**

The smell was disgusting. _Absolutely rancid_.

I was unable to place it - not in my current state anyway - and the effect it had on my numb body was similar to that of smelling salts. Military grade.

With a sharp gasp, I felt my body lunge forward a bit, and my eyes snapped open. Simultaneously, my back arched up in pain from the sudden movement. I bit my lip to prevent myself from crying out, and tasted the coppery liquid that was blood.

Once more, the rancid smell burned my nostrils, and I lifted a hand to cover my nose. Feeling something sticky, I tried to look at my fingers, but was surprised when I couldn't see them. At this, my heart began to pound in my chest, and I wildly looked around, only to be surrounded in darkness. It was blacker than night, and I felt suddenly claustrophobic, as if it was engulfing me.

Another sharp gasp brought that same unrecognizable smell to me nose, and I gagged in response. Thinking I had gone blind, my breath began to come in short, wheezing gasps. Vaguely, as the tears began to well up in my eyes, I thought that I was going to choke - both from lack of air and from the disgusting scent of...Of...

I couldn't think straight. My mind was whirling, and I felt sick. The nauseous feeling hit my stomach unwelcomely, and dry sobs began to erupt from my slightly parted lips. I felt my hand shake, and raised it to my mouth in an attempt to stifle the sobs. It wasn't until I couldn't breathe again, that I figured that there was a collar around my neck, pulling tightly at the soft, delicate skin.

"Shii? Shii, is that you, yeah?" my mind went blank at the noise. The sobs did not stop, or even decrease.

"Shii, please tell me...You're alive..." the deep, male voice spoke once more; it sounded strong, yet I could tell that it was only moments away from breaking. I gasped and tried to respond to the sound, desperately trying to speak. But I only managed a strangled sort of cough.

The voice did not speak again, but I was able to hear the faintest trace of breathing. It sounded far away, but as my mind slowly began to clear, the small noise got louder and louder. But the breathing was all I needed to remember. Something clicked in my mind, and I was able to remember. Then it hit me, it hit me so hard that it might as well have been painful.

"Deidara!" I rasped, hurting terribly. My hands shot out into the dark abyss instinctively, as if just the slightest touch would make everything better.

"Where are you?" he spoke again after several minutes, on the verge of whispering. The tears came freely down my cheeks, and I managed to slide down on all fours, crawling like a wounded dog. Under my trembling hands, I felt cold, broken tile. It was also grainy - no doubt very dirty - and I began to feel around in a vain attempt to find him. I traveled three, maybe even five feet and could go on no longer; the stiff leather collar held me back with a jolt. I fell back on my behind, and was temporarily winded.

"Deidara...I-I can't move!" I rasped out feebly, trying to crawl, despite the restrictions the collar held. It pulled tighter and tighter, but I was getting nowhere. Vaguely, I heard a soft clinking noise, followed by the sound of skin patting down on the cold, filthy floor.

"Don't move, yeah. I'm...I'm coming," he replied, as the clinking noise got louder. I whimpered to myself - feeling a combination of pitiful and stupid at my behavior - still vainly trying to reach out and see through the sticky black.

"Shii, make some noise so I can hear you, yeah." I jumped at how close the voice was, and my breaths came in shorter gasps still.

"H-Here!" Was all I could whisper back in response. Moments later, a cold, granular-feeling hand (no doubt having residue from crawling) reached out, and brushed past mine. Lunging forward instantly - wildly - I came into contact with something...Human.

Arms - shivering with fear or cold, I couldn't tell - wrapped around me protectively, and I felt the smooth skin of his neck somewhere against my ear. I would have deemed it appropriate if my heart suddenly erupted from my chest in joy, fear, and anxiety. It was such a sick - if not exhilarating - combination.

"W-w-what's going on?" I stuttered, screwing up my eyes against the tears that threatened to spill. The same hand from before felt its way towards my face and pulled me closer. Trembling, I tried to wrap my arms around him as well - but was foiled by the metallic rope that held the collar to...Something.

I sensed that Deidara was about to speak (comforting words or questions, I wasn't sure yet), but he was interrupted by the crackling noise of a...Television?

I felt the muscles in his cold arms jump at the noise, and I was embraced closer still (mostly on instinct, no doubt) as the room was filled with a sickly, grey and white glow.

My eyes, still wet with tears, couldn't make out most of the room; it took several more minutes for my eyes to adjust. But when they finally did, I began to wish that I was blind to my surroundings once more. In the brief period of examination, I was only able to see that we were in a square room - its walls were made of thick, cement blocks that had water stains dripping down. There were no windows, and the tiled floor was barely visible under all the dirt, grime, and various metal pipes. I couldn't tell what color the tiles had been originally. Turning my head a fraction of an inch, I could no longer see the room, but only him. Deidara.

Despite the twisted situation, my heart still jumped with elation at his name. But I had no time for such feelings, since I so desperately wanted to know if there was anything else worth seeing in the room. But his hair acted like a screen, and thus my vision was obscured.

As his face - taut with worry - was turned to study the source of the sickly glow, I in turn studied him. His hair was disheveled, yet the ponytail still held strong. There were smudges of dirt on his cheeks, covering the pallid complexion. A shallow cut was shining red on his exposed cheek, and I wondered what condition I was in. Considering, it was probably much worse than his.

But before I could examine anything else, a terrible voice spoke.

"Hello, Ashita. Hello, Deidara."

I jumped slightly at the raspy, growling tone it was spoken in, and turned frantically to see where it was coming from. Following Deidara's line of sight, I came face-to-face with a state-of-the-art plasma, flat-screen television that had slid down from an unnoticed notch on a space in the ceiling. Contrary to the scheme of the room, it was modern, sleek and looking to be brand-new. If I wasn't cowering into Deidara's chest, I may have thought it to be...Interesting, even.

There was nothing visible on the screen, until I squinted harder. Then a shadow was revealed to be sitting on a chair, obviously watching us through the screen. Which meant that there must have been a camera in the room. What kind of a sick joke is this?!

There was silence, and I figured the person watching us wanted to reply. I whimpered inaudibly, biting down on my lower lip to keep it from quivering.

"H-Hello?" I called out in a small voice, sounding much more scared than I wanted to let on. The figure rustled slightly on-screen, and a dark chuckle could be heard. I unconsciously shivered.

"Do you want to play a game?" it rasped out ominously. There was once again a silence, and I knew we had to answer again. But I wasn't the one to speak this time.

"What do you want from us, hmm?" he spoke with a tone that masked his fear well, and held my trembling figure with ease. I looked at his expression; he seemed to be studying the screen raptly, paying attention to its every move and word.

"Both of you," the voice continued, "Have been given many privileges in life. You were set to end up well, if you chose to abide by the rules, of course. Every game, as you know, has rules."

The figure was silent for a period, but none of us said a word to it (I suspected it was male, but couldn't be sure). Instead, it went on speaking.

"You complied for some time, until tragedy struck in both your lives." From beside me, I saw a muscle on the lid of his cerulean eye twitch. I responded to this comment with that nauseating feeling in my stomach instead, followed by a sharp intake of breath.

"Each of you dealt differently, each of you chose a different path. But one thing was the same; you both broke the rules. You both dealt in business that was unlawful, that caused misery in people. And you both have cost the world an innocent human life."

My sapphire eyes shot open at this comment, for I had done no such thing. I may have indulged in unclean happenings - Lord only knows - but I had never, _ever-_

"Ashita, do you recognize this boy?" The screen switched to a picture of a smiling Aisu - looking years younger than he really was. At that, my heart felt like it was scorched by dozens upon dozens of lacerations. Once again, dry sobs erupted freely from my lips, and I squirmed out of the blonde's grasp, reaching out frantically towards the screen. As before, I was held back by the stiff collar, yet I fought so hard against it that I could feel something sticky ooze down my neck and unto my teal shirt.

"No! NO! How dare you say that!!" I screamed, vainly trying to grab at the screen, "What are you talking about?!"

I allowed my body to slump down unto the floor, and the blonde male beside me did nothing. Perhaps he didn't care, perhaps he didn't know what to say. Or maybe he was even reminded of a similar situation that had happened to him. I wouldn't know.

"Ah, so you do have heart enough to remember you little friend, Ashita." The words were spoken dryly, without humor, and yet the figure giggled freakishly. If I hadn't previously thought the man was insane, I confirmed that now.

"He's not dead!! He _can't _be dead," I sobbed, sinking lower unto the ground, "I...I left him right there! He was...He...Was right there! It's f-freaking impossible!"

"So you say, little Ashita. But you - as a member of Rinniban - you should know the rules. There are certain things that don't matter to them, and a human life is one."

"But...They couldn't have! They're s-smart! They wouldn't...Wouldn't send a - A kid! He wasn't experienced enough - wasn't trained enough!" I cried, trembling as my stomach knotted into a fiery knot, "Not with that much - with that much money on the line! ...A h-hundred...A hundred..._A hundred grand!!"_

"But you weren't thinking. You wanted to find someone. The notion was foolish, to even your feeble mind. But you persisted on, and Rinniban was upset. They knew to hit you where it hurt." The speaker drawled on, not caring that each word was as good at driving a spike into my insides. Not caring that I was gasping for breath, not caring that I was crying for the boy that was as good as my own kid brother. There was a silence, and I prayed that the man - the sick, crazed, demented man - was done spitting these words at me.

"Deidara, don't think that I am only here for Ashita. You time will come as well, for you are no better - if not worse - that this girl. But for now...Our game. Yes?"

"Shii?" Deidara's voice was quiet, but bland. It held no emotion, or pity. I vainly tried to wipe the flowing tears away, but to no avail, as they just kept on coming. Suddenly angry, I let out as sort of strangled hiss, and brought my hands to my face, covering it. It wasn't until I heard a far-off clinking noise, and felt a cold hand pulling my wrist away that I felt the burning sensation on my face; I was clawing at my own skin.

"Don't do that to yourself, yeah. It won't help."

"How do you know?! How...How _would _you know?!" I seethed at the blonde, looking away from his contorted face. He pushed my hands away roughly, and I stole a surprised glance at his angry expression. My cries quieted to silent sobs, and I was about to speak - until the figure cut me off.

"Do you want to know, Ashita?" the raspy voice questioned me. My teary eyes glanced at the screen (which had already switched back to the shadowed figure) and I was silent. Deidara, however, was not.

"No! You can't...You won't, yeah!" he spoke, cerulean eyes flashing dangerously. I brought a hand to my mouth and bit down on the skin anxiously as the shadow chuckled eerily.

"But _I _won't," he chuckled madly, "_You_ will."

"Are you insane? Why...Why _would _I, hmm?!" I watched as he attempted to make a grab at the screen, but was held back suddenly, and fell back sharply. He choked, and I involuntarily reached out for him. I was just barely able to allow my hands to graze his shoulder before I realized what I had done. Surprised, I wrenched my hand back at stared at it. Why did I just do that?

Deidara didn't seem to notice my action, and tugged at the collar holding him from going any further. It was then that dim lights went off, lighting the room with a yellow, faint glow. My eyes narrowed from the sudden exposure to light, yet I still was able to look at my surroundings.

That was when I saw..._it_. The cause of the rancid smell that was relentlessly plaguing my nose.

On a far corner of the filthy room - previously covered by shadows - lay a man sprawled out on the floor. The puddle of blood around him was a giveaway that he was dead.

A scream rose up in my throat, but my hands flew up to my mouth in time to muffle the sound decently. Chest rising rapidly, I began to hyperventilate; the stiff collar wasn't helping much.

"Oh my God," was the only thing I was capable of speaking. Beside me, Deidara said nothing - but a look of confirmation dawn on his features. He looked from the dead, sprawled-put body to the screen.

"Shii, come here, yeah," the blonde spoke. I looked at him for a second, and he returned the look of panic, although it was very-well masked. I complied, and crawled over to him with shaking hands. He had to lean over, but was just able to wrap his arm around my body. It was then that I noticed he had to bend his body in an awkward position to do so; because his collar was chain on the other side of the room, and it lead to...

"Oh my God," I whispered again, "Oh my _fucking_ God."

"I see it too," he muttered into my ear (the sensation sent a twisted chill down my spine, for whatever reason. Most likely it was fear). I knew then that I was attached to one too, and that led to a few more tears squeezing themselves down my palled features.

"So you noticed," the shadow spoke, "Good, good. You are both attached to a contraption that plays an important factor in our game."

My eyes raked over the wooden box-like structure that was open on both front and back (so that I was able to see the concrete wall behind it), and reached to the low ceiling of the room. Acting like a shelf, was placed a metal sheet, with a 'V' cut into it, so that the wide side was facing me. From Deidara's collar, lay a rope of twisted metal, and it led over the metal sheet, and above - where it was connected to a motor. I must have visibly paled, and Deidara knew that I had figured it out.

"If we get pulled into that...Our heads are going to be cut off, aren't they?" I whispered hoarsely. Deidara said nothing, but nodded.

"The cords on your collars can be pulled so tightly, that you will be decapitated in an instant." The shadow confirmed. In an instant, Deidara was tugging at my collar softly, looking at it intently. I gasped, and sent him a surprised look.

"There has to be a way to get them off, yeah," he explained in a quick breath, turning my head gently - obviously not wanting to set off the trap.

"There is only one way to get these collars off. And that is winning. You two have told lies your entire lives. Over time, they increased in measure. But now, to save your lives, you must tell the truth. After thirty questions, you will either be freed, or you will be dead. The choice is yours," the shadow laughed terribly, "Now let the games begin."

There was a loud beep, and the motors clicked into life. I cringed, and expected to be killed, but nothing happened. At least, not yet.

"First question. Family plays an important role in all our lives. Did you love your parents?"

I blinked, confused. Was this really happening? That was a...Ridiculous question, given the circumstances.

"Yes," I answered feebly. The blonde next to me was silent.

"No," he replied after a few more moments. There was another loud beep, and I heard the noise of the cord being retracted.

I screamed as Deidara was wrenched away from me, and my hands flew out to him. My heart fell as he was pulled away from me; I began to think that I lost him. I knew my face must have twisted with fear and sorrow, and my hands twitched as they scraped the air - trying to grab onto him. But he came to a stop after less than a second, and I lunged towards him. To my dismay, I was only just able to graze the tips of my trembling fingers with his hand.

His features had contorted into painful-looking misery, and he let out a sharp gasp (of relief or pain, I couldn't tell). Cerulean eyes were wide as he straightened out, coming to a sitting position.

The dark figure let out another freakish giggle, "I can tell this will be amusing. Question two..."

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**KAZ SPEAKS! **Okay, so I should mention that the trap used in this segment of the story is taken from Saw V. If you go on YouTube and look up 'Saw V' there is a little preview of the original segment, called the 'Neck Tie Clip'. Look it up, if you want to get an idea of this (which I highly recommend). Anyway, moving on...

This trap will be continued in the next chapter, because it is EXTREAMLY important to the plot regarding character development and history. Meaning that Shii and Deidara find out things about each other. Hurrah? Deidara doesn't think so.

Okay, so I hope this one meet all expectaions. I really need feedback, because this is a new type of story from me, and I want to know how I'm doing. Reveiws are candied love, seriously.

See you next time!


	4. Lies Are No Fun, Sweetie

**AUTHOR'S NOTE! **Dude, I so totally lied. xD Last chapter was bordering on 3,700 words. This one passes 5,000 words. Wow. My fingers hurt. A lot. Haha! Okay, anyway, so many reviews! I feel so happy~ Oh, if I haven't yet replied, once again I'm sorry. My E-Mail is seriously screwing me over, and it makes me want to stab it. Many times. -sigh- But thanks SO SO SO much for all the amazing reviews. This chapter is all for you! So I hope you guys like it; it's actually a lot angstier than my usual style. But that's what you get with a Saw story. Well, I'll shut up now. Enjoy this one, loves!

**DISCLAIMER! **Yeah...No. I obviously don't own Naruto, it's characters, or anything else. Or Saw. I don't own that either, and my fingers hurt to much to type in a witty remark. Meh.

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**04. "Lies Are No Fun, Sweetie"**

There were several moments in my life where I was put into absurd, questionable, and/or frightening situations.

Even though I had woken up in this wretched place not even twenty minutes ago, it had already topped off any other situations beforehand. And that was saying something...

"Now, Ashita. Question number fifteen is for you," the rasped-out voice spoke, sending involuntary shivers down my spine. I was left to nod feebly and await my question.

So far, I had not told a lie (because I valued my life more than my pride) and had not yet experienced the sensation of being pulled away, closer to the razor that would indefinitely cut my head off. Deidara, however, had already been pulled away from me on the first question, and had been pulled away again on the eleventh question.

In truth (and I had no idea why), I was truly, deeply worried for the blonde. I knew that I really should have hated him, hated him so much for leaving me so long ago, as if I was nothing to him. The thought came to me bitterly, and I snuck a furtive glance Deidara. When I noticed he was staring right back at me (and so _obviously_ too!), I knew my eyes had widened, so I looked away. Did he regard me as nothing? Was I just another girl to him?

My stomach knotted itself even further in its pit of misery as these thoughts burned like a fiery whip.

I allowed a tried sigh to escape my lips, suddenly thinking myself to be some sort of emotional masochist. I really shouldn't be thinking those sort of worthless thoughts, _especially_ in the current situation. Besides, I still - no matter how hard I thought on it - couldn't find any legitimate reasons for my attitude towards Deidara. I was too old for raging hormones, wasn't I? Nineteen is an old enough age, right? **Right.**

"Well, Ashita," the raspy voice cut through my thoughts (I twitched back into reality), "Let's move onto the topic of your _friends_, shall we?"

I didn't like the emphasis he put on the words 'friends', so I was left to merely nod (albeit shakily), "O-Okay..."

"When you were in high school -" I knew my face had fallen at the mention of those years - "You said yourself you had no real friends. Is this true?"

My heart began to beat, and I prayed to whoever may have been up there at the moment that he wasn't going to ask _that_ question, "Yes, I suppose I d-did say that."

"Then who would you consider your..._Best _friend of that era. Hmm?" the shadow cackled. I gulped, and knew that all color must have drained from my already ashen face. Sneaking a furtive glance at the blonde, my heart pounded somewhere in my throat when I saw that he was staring at me with a raised eyebrow and a slightly confused expression. I looked away from him and to the razor that the collar was attached to, knowing what would happen if I told too many lies.

Allowing a shaky sigh to escape me once more, I looked over to the damned screen and took a deep breath.

"Deidara." The single word was spoken so bluntly that I think even the shadow was surprised - if only by a minuscule bit. Not daring to look over at the blond, I kept my eyes focused on the screen, trying to ignore the shivers going down my spine as the shadow laughed to himself.

"Deidara, the seventeenth question is for you." I still refused to look at the blonde teen, but was forced to when the seventeenth question was uttered.

"Do you know of the existence of Rinniban?"

My sapphire eyes shot open - almost as if I'd been electrocuted - and my head swiveled around so fast that my neck had cracked through the collar. I paid no heed to the weird feeling however, and looked at the blonde; I waited desperately for his answer, knowing full well that it could change many things.

He was silent for a moment, think of what to say, no doubt. He looked up, glancing at me for only a mere second before speaking.

"Yes," he spoke the single word and looked down, away from me. I so desperately wanted to see his face, but it was hidden by his long hair - which fell over his face and acted as a screen between the two of us. Trying to push against the force of the collar, I tried to hold a hand out to him, but we had been far too separated already. I let the outstretched hand fall to me side limply instead, and fell back into a sitting position.

"Ashita, question eighteen. Do you know about the Akatsuki?"

With this statement, it was Deidara's turn to look at the screen sharply. I heard him whisper a quiet _no_, and that was all. This made my mind rage with thoughts; was he with the Akatsuki? That was impossible! Because...Because Rinniban and Akatsuki...

They _hate _each other!

"No!" I shouted, trying to claw at the screen. But then, I became silent, and my mouth fell open as I realized what I just did. I hadn't meant to say no, it was...

Oh shit.

"Wrong answer," the malicious shadow cackled. There was a loud _beep_, and the sound of the motor whirring filled the room.

My lips parted, and I let out a terrified scream as I was forcibly pulled away at a high speed towards the razor. Tears jumped out of my eyes as I slid down the grimy floors, legs flailing wildly. My hands were at the collar instantly, trying to pull it off with all my might.

It may have lasted a few terrible seconds, but in that time I had begun to choke from lack of air, and I began to fear a heart attack. There was another _beep_, and I came to sudden halt. Falling down of all fours, I coughed and gasped for breath as tears streamed down my cheeks.

"Shii! Shii, are you okay, hmm?" Deidara voice called out to me. I sniffled, whimpering slightly, and got up into a sitting position once more. Looking at him - blurrily, because the tears hadn't yet dried - I nodded rapidly, still trying to calm my furiously beating heart.

"What are you playing at, yeah?! You knew that wasn't her answer, but you still pulled her back?" I heard an outraged cry coming from - my mouth fell open once more at the sight - Deidara. A soft whimper (it seemed, the last) emitted from me, and I played with my fingers wanting to look at the blonde, but unable to.

"Rules are rules, Deidara. So I'm sure you wouldn't mind answering questions nineteen _and_ twenty," the sick shadow spoke in an idle tone, "So, you are affiliated with the Akatsuki, obviously. Does this image look familiar to you?"

I tilted my head and watched the screen as the blare of sirens filled the room, along with the sound of roaring fire. It hurt my ears, and I felt my lip twitch as the sound plagued my sensitive ears relentlessly. I was so busy being bothered by it, that I didn't notice Deidara's stricken expression. Not yet, anyway.

"Yes. It's the condemned highway, Route 54, yeah," he spoke, shooting glances at me as he did so. My stomach churned at the sight. Because along with the fire, I saw a totaled, sleek black car. _Mirainao..._

"Now, what type of..._Business_ do you deal in, again?"

His head turned away from the screen, and he did not meet my questioning gaze. I was only _affiliated _with Rinniban, I wasn't - and didn't plan on becoming - a member. But if Deidara was _working_ for the Akatsuki, then he must have been a member. No wonder he was at the track!

I vaguely remembered the leader of Rinniban telling me about the Akatsuki; how there were killers, assassins, bombers, and things that would make my pin-straight hair curl. My heart slowed it's rapid beating, and I began to wish desperately that Deidara - _my_ Deidara - wasn't with the Akatsuki.

"Well, Deidara?"

The blonde was silent for only a few more seconds. "Explosives, yeah."

"Is that all? Anything else you want to let Ashita here know about?" the voice seemed mocking, and I caught Deidara visibly flinching (if not only by the slightest bit).

"...Yes. That is everything, yeah." The room was silent for only a fraction of a second, and I waited with baited breath. That is, until...

**BEEP**

I jumped slightly, and took in a sharp gasp when I saw the blonde being dragged away. Once more, my hands instinctively flew out at him, but I forced them back to my side before anyone had a chance to see. His hair whipped around as the blonde drew closer to the razor, and he came to an immediate halt. I saw his chest rising and falling as he took in deep breaths, and I was left to chew the inside of my lip in anticipation, and to stop myself from blurting out the burning question:

_What do you do for the Akatsuki?_

"Explosives, eh? That's rather interesting to know, isn't it Ashita?" I winced at the sound of my own name, and shakily turned towards the shadow, spitting curses at him in my mind. But instead of saying anything, I only gave him a short nod in response.

"Ashita, question twenty-one. How long have you been _driving_ for?"

Almost immediately, I knew what this man was asking me. He meant 'driving' in terms of my job. But I didn't want Deidara to know that; he _couldn't _know that part of my life, that...That sick part of me that I was all but forced to do.

Not knowing what to say, I felt the nauseating feeling of panic flowing through me. My breathing rate increased and my fingers fidgeted.

"I...I..." my lips tried to form the right words, and I knitted my brow in more panic, "You must understand, D-Deidara. It was out of high school and collage s-started. The stress was...Was...I couldn't take it. My father couldn't p-pay for tuition, and my scholarship wasn't enough...And, well I always _was_ a good d-driver so -"

"Tick, tock Ashita..." I 'eeped' in surprise and played with my fingers some more. Feeling a tiny bead of sweat drip down my forehead, I raised a trembling hand and wiped it away with the hem of the jacket I was still wearing. For a moment, the smell of old leather hit my nose, and comforted me. I remembered how many times that jacket had saved me from possible injuries (leather is actually quite protective when you car flips upside down and your arms get dragged along the asphalt). But that only made me remember more the part of my life that was so secretive and taboo.

This was going to be Hell....But I valued my life too much. I _had _to tell him. No turning back now.

"Well, I guess I brought this upon myself..." I muttered under my breath. Taking in a good, deep breath to calm my nerves, I finally blurted out those cursed words, "I'm a drag racer. I race foreign cars, nitrous racers, really anything that has wheels and can go over sixty an hour. I race for the gang Rinniban, and I have won millions of dollars for them by now. But - and this is the important thing, at least to me - _I am not, or ever will be, in that gang._"

There. The deed is done.

There was a sharp intake of breath, and I spotted Deidara looked ashen, all color drained from his face. It cut me like a knife; was he that surprised? Was my secret that bad? Would...

Would he have to kill me now?

However, I didn't expect the answer to that little thought to come so quickly.

"Surprised, Deidara? Are you surprised that your high school friend turned out that way? Or," the shadow giggled, "Is it that you know the question I will now ask you? And is it that you fear the consequences; that you will lose the only person who ever really saw you as you were? Well, we'll see, won't we Ashita? Now Deidara - question twenty-two. Did your presence at the highway have anything to do with the Akatsuki?"

My head spun, turning to see the blonde once more. I wanted to meet his gaze, to lock my deep sapphire eyes with his bright cerulean ones - and to know what was going on. I wanted him to tell me that it would be alright, that I would live, that we would get out and that we would -

"No. It had nothing to do with that, yeah."

I...Wait, _what_?

My stomach squirmed, and I was stunned. I had been wrong about him? He wasn't there on Akatsuki business? Then...What?

My foolish, girlish, damned mind spun up the idea that he was there for _me. _I was filled with glee for a few dear nanoseconds, but then my more logical side slapped the though out. That was absolutely stupid to think of! He obviously didn't care for me those two years ago, so why in all that was Holy did he care to turn up now? Dear God, what was I? Some silly school girl who thought up little fantasies of love and friendship and..._Caring_?! I was suddenly about to scream curses to myself, until...

Well, at least that scream didn't go to waste.

It rose up in my throat, and cried out sharply as the resonating **BEEP**sounded, and Deidara was dragged away once more. But that was my last straw, because he was closer to the razor that I would have liked. It seemed as if he only had two more chances left - three more if he was lucky. I was only two lies away from losing the one I had found. My mind raged at the thought.

"Godammit! You fucking idiot, shut up and tell the truth!!" I shouted at him, rearing up against the chains, and trying to lunged at him; to embrace him, to sooth him, to yell at him, to scream at him. To tell him that I didn't _want_ him gone. That even though my logical, sane part of my was yelling - nay, _screaming_ at me - to get my mind out of the gutter and think straight.

But I didn't want to think straight! Look at where it got me! I was in the deathtrap because I needed money, and drag racing was the sensible thing to do. At least, in my position. So why couldn't I be allowed to care? No one was my really friend anymore, I needed something, someone, anyone to be mine. At that one was about to have his head cut off. Oh _Hell _no!

"You don't get it, do you? Maybe someone other than yourself wants you to live, _huh?! _Maybe someone actually regards you as important in their life. So what if you're in the Akatsuki! So what if I'm with Rinniban! What are they? Names! Ugly, deeming, controlling names! Tell the truth! What am I going to do? I'm no better!!" I panted, exhausted from my verbal onslaught. "I'm...I'm no..._Better_..."

And for the first time in a while, he met my eyes. He held me there for a few glorious seconds, his chest rising and falling from lack of breath. And then...

"You don't understand, yeah." His words were cold, unfeeling, and alien to me. I stood dumbfounded for a second, before fighting against the chains once more.

"That makes no sense!! You're willing to throw away your life to keep some damn secrets from a girl like _me?!_" the thought sounded incredulous even to me - the melon head, "Maybe I don't want you to freaking die! Huh? Did you think of that, smart ass? So open you damn mouth, before....Before...Before you're head fucking _rolls_!!"

It was only when my voice cracked did I realize I was sobbing. Face burning crimson, I angrily wiped away the tears and fell to my knees - glaring a hole into the concrete floor.

"I believe I can make you take back your words, Ashita. But first, question twenty-three. How much was this race worth?"

I barely looked at the screen, still seething in fury, "One hundred grand. Worth more than all the other races."

"Twenty-four," the shadow barked at me, sounding more urgent, "How much experience did Aisu have?"

I flinched at the burning sensation in my heart, "A few months. He was in training still, nothing more than my lackey.

"Twenty-five. That car you were going to drive?" His tone had gotten excited, impatient. And I knew then that this was not going to end well.

"Mirainao. My car, designed by me, built by me, made for me. It was one of the fastest I ever drove, going from zero to one hundred in two-point-five seconds flat. There were four tanks of spray in the back - no backset - all leather interior and bulletproof glass."

"Twenty-_six_," the shadow all but sang with glee, "Did you check the chassis? Like you _always _do? Hmm, Ashita?"

I knew my face must have fallen at that (the shadow's laughter increased in hysteria), and my heart fell. My mind raced, trying to remember that day. I had gotten there a little later that usual. I was distracted because it was Halloween, and I was blasting music through my earphones. My car was waiting for me at the track, and I had less than a minute to myself before Aisu came. He came in, and that...that indescribably feeling came to me - as if I knew that I had to find someone. That's when I wandered off and Aisu drove...Without me checking the underside of the car for any foreign objects...

"No...No...I didn't," I whispered, sinking to the ground in...In nothing. No feeling was there. I was numb. Because it had _clicked_. Why it was my fault that Aisu died. Why it was Deidara's fault that Aisu died. Why we were _here_.

**I knew.**

"Twenty-seven," the tone went higher as the shadow spoke, and my heart began to race as fast as my cars, "Deidara, are you familiar with the description of Ashita's car? Are you _familiar_ with Mirainao?"

One contorted look at the blonde told me that he knew as well, and that he was aware that I knew. No point in denying it now.

"Un," he answered plainly, looking down on the floor, his facial muscles jumping.

"Oh we're getting close now. Twenty-eight! The tie-breaker!" a peal of laughter punctuated the sentence: "Now Deidara, tell Ashita exactly what you were doing at the track! Tell her why you were there! And tell her what you did!!"

His expression was stricken. He sent me an expression twisted by shame and...Was that regret? "Shii, I didn't know, un. I didn't know that was _your_ car, and you have to understand I did what I did because...Because...

"_Tell her Deidara!_" the voice screamed in mirth. The blonde struggled against his collar, and was making an attempt to approach me, but was held back painfully. Still, he resisted.

"It's my _job_, Shii. I had to. I had to plant those bombs in the chassis of your car, and they had to go off and kill the driver. Because Rinniban was going to use that money to try and kill off the Akatsuki. But if I knew it was you, yeah..." he trailed off, finally ceasing his resistance and sinking to the floor, "It could have been you, Shii...It was _supposed _to be you, yeah."

"So, so close now! Twenty-_nine_! Shii, do you still hold your feelings for your precious blonde? Do you?"

"I...I..." the tears fell freely again, and I didn't know what to say. The tension was all but tangible in the room, and I hyperventilated slightly. It might have gotten worse, but my lips parted and uttered the first words I could think of.

"He killed Aisu! But I killed Aisu too, because I never should have left him! I should have checked the chassis! I should have....I should have! I know how gangs work! I know, I know, I know! But I was stupid! And...And..._I hate you, Deidara!"_

**BEEP**

I almost wished for it then, for my head to come off. I didn't deserve the pretty skin, the appealing face, the sweet eyes. I deserved to have it gone. I didn't want life, and I almost very nearly wished for it.

That is, until I saw _him. _As I slid closer to the razor, I saw his eyes. And I knew that he saw my foolishness. He saw that in my heart, I had forgiven him. For no reason! But I had.

And, sadly enough, I would always forgiven him. If I said I hated him, he would know that I didn't mean it. I don't know if he saw the other, more deeply hidden feelings. But they were there. And for now, he knew enough.

I winced as I halted to a stop, falling down on all fours.

"And we come to the grand finale! Ashita, you may want to hear this!" the shadow had finally lost his grip, and let out that final scream of mirth and insanity, "Deidara, you knew Ashita here, did you not. You can see she holds your worthless skin close to her heart, but do you hold her in the same regard? Do you, Deidara, admit that your feelings are true, that you did not use her as you did so many other girls?

He looked at me, and my heart raced faster and faster. Use me? _What?_

"I..." he paused, and I could all but hear that mechanical whirr as his mind worked furiously. But then I knew what the man was saying.

I had always suspected myself of having loving feelings towards that egocentric blonde. If he admitted to this, is was practically saying he had those feelings once too. And that was all but admitting that he..._Liked me_.

Did he? My heart continued its onslaught of beating.

"...No. She was no better that the others, un."

If I had a heart attack, it would have been appropriate. A sharp cry was uttered from me, and I looked at him with wide, tearing eyes. Like I said before, I did not care if he held those feelings or not but...

I guess I lied about that, too. Because this was all but a slap to the face and a stab in the heart.

But then...

**BEEP**

He lied?

I did not care to hide the scream of fear, because he did not stop being dragged away. The cord shrunk on and on, and he was nearing the razor at an alarming rate. My hands raked the air, desperately trying to grab on to him, as if I could hold him back and away from the nearing danger.

I screamed again, because by now he had been forced up off the ground, and was clawing at the collar to get it off.

"NO!!" I roared, lunging at the blonde. My heart fell as his head reached the razor and I considered closing my eyes, not wanting to see the stomach-turning sight of his...His decapitated body.

However, with a loud click he stopped. He was right up against the razor, probably not even a centimeter away from it. Cerulean eyes were wide with panic, and the shadow laughed once more.

"Well wasn't this entertaining? I look forward to playing with you two again. Good-bye."

There was a click, and the collar fell free. I yanked it away from my neck and stood there for a second, feeling numb.

With shaking legs, I stood up and looked that the blonde. He was panting, and stumbled away from the razor (with had very nearly severed his head). His eyes met with mine once more, and that was all I needed.

"Deidara!!" I cried out, and ran full force at him. It only took a few seconds to reach him, and I wrapped my arms as tightly as possible around his chest, holding him close to me and causing us to fall over in the process.

Burying my face into his chest, I cried out freely as his arms held me so tightly it was as if I was being smothered. But in the best way that was ever possible.

"Godammit! Don't let go! For me, don't ever let go Deidara."

And his answer only made me cry even harder:

"I won't let go if you promise you won't, un."

* * *

**KAZ SPEAKS! **DUDE. SAPPY ENDING. Rawr, not what I was planning. I really think Shii is too...Uh, crazed in this chapter. She overreacts a tad. But then again, I would do the same if my whole life came apart like this. But I guess it's pretty good, you know - for finally winning the first game.

I was thinking I could very easily kill off Deidara in this one, but it was too short. I need more things to happen before I even _consider_ killing off either charcter. Will I? Won't I? Oh the possible events...

Anway, YAY! We finally found out some backround on why everything happened. But wait! There's more coming soon! WOO! The killer goes a little, uh...Off the deep end. Haha, he sounds like Tobi. xD Oh, and Shii reminds me of Hidan a bit. You know, when her tongue gets colorful.

Oh, this is too long, and I'm too tired to check for mistakes. I'm sorry, but I'll do that tomorrow. So, I hope you liked this as it is!

Remeber, reviews are my crack. They are the ramen to my Naruto, so if you want a faster update, then review! Muahaha. (Plus, I wanna know how I'm doing with this).

See ya next time!


	5. The Interlude

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I am extreamely upset with myself right now. Dx First of all, I don't update for a gazillion years, and when I finally crack my fingers and get to typing...This is what comes out. Please inerst a frustrated sigh here. Thank you.

As you notice, this chapter - if you can even call it a chapter - is the interlude. As in, the pause in which we find out things that clear up some issues, and raise up some more. Originally, this was going to be a short story, and this was going to be the end - in which Shii and Deidara elope and live happily ever after (Haha). However, you also may notice that the way I worded the past chapters, everything is too abrupt and murky to be left here. Therefore, this chapter must be short, and must be so. As I said, a small interlude in the story. Sort of.

Well, things will invariably get interesting in the next chapter. More chatacters get introduced, and the killer's personality is taken more out of the shadow. Now, this author's note is extreamely long and rather boring, so please go on to read the story and do enjoy.

**DISCLAIMER! **I'll make it short and sweet; I don't own Naruto (or anything having to do with it) and the concept is borrowed from 'Saw' - which I also do not own. There.

* * *

**05. "The Interlude"**

I've always hated having a dream. Why? I don't know. Maybe I'll never know.

But I do know that I detest dreams. Good or bad, I don't like them. Or perhaps I've merely lied to myself all these nineteen years. Because maybe it isn't the dream I detest, but merely the fact that whenever I wake up, I know that the luscious dream world I was in has gone.

I think that was how I felt when I was forced to let him go. Obviously we couldn't stay embraced forever - I would think escaping the dreaded room was more important. Besides, there was time for all of that later on - when we left this dreaded place. So you see, it was exactly like waking up from a dream.

Because - as much as the thought still brought on a fresh smear of red to my cheeks - I did used to dream about him. Not like...Well, not _perversely _of course. But a few fangirlish hopes couldn't hurt, could they?

But as my eyes took in the room once he let me go, I begged to differ.

"Shii, come here, yeah." Deidara's voice called out. I shivered a bit, and shuffled over to where he was standing. I rubbed my arms for some warmth as the blonde hovered over - my stomach lurched at the sight - the dead body. Not daring to look at the lifeless, open and glassed eyes of the departed one, I chose to watch the blonde as he studied the body. Not like I wanted to admit it, but I couldn't help but be somewhat horrified at how little the corpse seemed to bother him. It was only human nature to be frightened, or disgusted at least, by these things. Once more, I found myself staring at the male, my mind spinning up nasty thoughts.

What? Had he seen many dead bodies before? I suddenly thought of him standing in the midst of thousands of bodies.

Was he the cause of all those bodies? All those deaths? I couldn't bear to let my own wandering mind think up an image to match that thought. In all honesty...

**It scared me**_**.**_

"Deidara..." I began. He turned to look at me with a questioning expression. I brought a nail to my mouth and began to chew on it till it was at breaking point. How could I tell him my fears? Such a cute, cute expression he had on, too! I quickly found my resistance crumbling at the precious blonde in front of me, so I merely shook my head.

"Never mind about it. What are you looking at that body for? Aren't...Aren't we done? Free?" I asked instead, covering from my other words. The male shook his head, blonde bangs swaying slightly out of place, and continued looking at the body.

"I don't think we're done yet, yeah." The words came with an ominous tone, but before I could further drink in the thought, Deidara had stood up and wiped the dirt off the knees of his jeans.

"Do you recognize this body, hmm?" he questioned, pointed at the corpse with a slender finger. My stomach screamed it's repulsion at me (if stomachs _could_ scream, that is) yet I still spared a glance at the body. It was definitely male by the shape, and looked to be shorter than Deidara, yet still taller than I. The man was dressed plainly - only clad in loose, dark-denim jeans and a black jacket over it, topped off with work boots - and stood out from mine and Deidara's rather eccentric and dark style.

"I don't think so. Can we...Leave, please?" I whispered the last part, cringing as I looked away from the dead man.

"This is the guy that attacked us, un. This is the guy that brought us here..." he muttered, catching my attention quickly.

"What? But...How? I thought...I thought you were shot!" I interjected, shivering again and moving closer to the blonde on instinct. He shook his head, gesturing to the man's blood-drenched torso.

"I wasn't the one who was shot. He was. But it didn't kill him, and he still managed to bring both of us here, yeah. But that may have ended up killing him, yeah," he explained; my eyes grew wider with each word.

"But who shot him? Certainly not you?"

I received no answer, but instead Deidara got up and walked towards the single way of exit; a steel, bolted door. I looked at him, suddenly angry with this attitude he showed - _especially_ after what just happened.

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" I hissed, stomping over to him. Still I received no answer, so I seized the cloth of his shirt, and managed to turn him enough; he avoided my gaze.

"Who did the shooting? _Who_, Deidara?" I demanded. He shot me a cold look, and detached me from his shirt easily. In turn, he grabbed my arm, and led me over to the door.

"You're right, un. It wasn't me. You know I'm with Akatsuki, yeah. It was someone who wanted me to do a job for them. Happy, yeah?" his tone was frosty, and I scowled, still burning with the flame of anger. I snatched my arm back, and took a step away from him.

"Yes, I am _very _happy," I shot back, allowing my lip to jut out in a slight pout. Crossing my arms, I did nothing as he took hold of the large handle on the bolted door. Gritting his teeth, he managed to turn the knob after some effort. I watched silently as the muscles tightened on his exposed arms, and thought maybe I should help him. But then I remembered I was busy being mad at him, so I settled for watching him while biting my lip. With a loud _creak_, he finally opened the steel door. I took a few steps towards it, and grew hopeful as well as relieved. Finally, _Finally, _we were free.

"Wait, Deidara," I whispered, stepping forward and tugging on the cloth of his shirt softly. He looked back, about to open the door to our freedom. He raised a single eyebrow, waiting for me to speak. I chewed on the inside of my lip, letting him go.

"I'm...I don't know," I sighed, allowing my hand to fall at my side limply, "What do we do now? You and I...We know too much about each other. Akatsuki and Rinniban...what will happen?"

He was silent as I continued to speak, "But after today...How can we forget each other? How, Deidara? What will we do?"

"As far as I'm concerned, yeah..." he was silent, and I was surprised when I noticed I was holding my breath, "As of now, you and I are dead to the world, yeah. We're dead to Akatsuki and Rinniban. We're...Free, yeah."

I stood in contemplative silence as he opened the door. As an obscenely bright light flooded the room, I was forced to shield my eyes against the light, lest my retinas be burned away.

Inching myself closer to the blonde, I waited with baited breath as the light died down. I was ready to leave, ready to run away. With him...

But then, in the span of a few seconds - no, less - I found myself with my heart slowing it's beating in shock, surprise, and fury.

Because, it only took my eyes less than a second to process the image of the long, long hallway that could only mean one thing:

**The game was still on.**

"_Fuck_," I heard the whisper come from beside me, and my breath came in shorter gasps. Not as bad as before, because now I was furious.

"I thought...I thought we _won_," I spat through clenched teeth. But before I could go on a rampage, an icy hand grasped mine and pulled me closer.

"Come here, yeah," Deidara spoke, obviously sensing my bubbling anger, "We'll get out...We'll get out, un."

I was so in a daze that I didn't even react when his hand began to skitter across my arm in a futile attempt to warm up the cold flesh.

As he led me through the door and into the bright hallway, I found myself wishing with all that was left of the pure side of my heart that he was right.

And then, in the dusty corner of my mind, where the truest thoughts are blanketed by cobwebs, I found myself dancing with elation that he referred to us - me and him, that is - as..._We_. Together. The two of us. Like something that belongs.

....God, spare my stupid thoughts.

* * *

**KAZ SPEAKS! **Rather an anti-cliamactic ending, yes? Oh well, my fingers are freezing cold (Like Shii, haha. Now if only I had Deidara to try and warm things up... -more sighs-). I'll probably have to start typing with gloves on next. -sigh-

Well, anyway. I hope this cleared up the gunshot/screaming/what Deidara was doing at the track ordeal. Shii fangirls a bit, even in such situations. But tell me, haven't you ever thought up randomly stupid things while in the middle of something...ah, important? That's my excuse for the romance anyway. xD

Anyway, MAJOR, SUPER, OHMYJASHIN THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED. I love you all, from** Kami-Inu,** who was with me from the beginning, to **Soup,** whose - even though your review was annonymus - review did not go un-loved! Thank you all so, so much and I'm sorry for not being able to respond to everyone.

Anyway, more reviews will make me even happier (and will call for a super-long chapter next). They are candied love - a.k.a. the ramen to my Naruto!

Hope you enjoyed the very short - yet somehow relevent - chapter!!


	6. My Bloody Valentine

**AUTHOR'S NOTE! **WHOAMYGODS. IT'S FINALLY FINALLY AT LONG LAST OMG HERE. I'm so terribly late. FFFF. I'm going to get shot one of these days for being so late. DD: This is like, what? A few MONTHS late. I'm so ashamed.

But it's here now. So yeah. I worked hard on this, and direct some thanks to the epic Mizu for helping me write this shit. Because I seem to have some sort of cruddy writer's block. And...Yeah. But I think it came out pretty good anyway. So I really hope you enjoy this one. (Better late than never?)

**DISCLAIMER! **Nope, I own nothing. Not the Naruto verse, it's characters, or the original theme of Saw. Kthnxbai.

* * *

**06. "My Bloody Valentine"**

I could feel them. All the individual droplets as they cascaded down my face. They were smooth, pearl-like ovals, and burned my irises as they flew down my face in a steady rampage.

Oh, it was embarrassing. But I found myself not caring as much. Vaguely, I was able to recollect a previous occurrence when I cried. But as the memory became sharper, I could feel a tight pull at my chest, and a heaving gasp came with it. My eyes squinted almost shut, and more tears poured out shamelessly.

Because I remember the last time I had cried - apart from today - was...When he left. When he left that day without a word, without a farewell, and as if he really didn't ever care. It was terrible; that sinking feeling I had, that I was abandoned. The same feeling I had when my mother passed away, in fact.

But it was different that time. Because I felt so much more differently about him than I felt about the woman that brought me into this world. It was new type of caring, a new type of fierce, scalding flame. And now...

Now he was walking right next to me, one arm draped over my shoulder in a physical gesture of caring. Instinctively, I pulled away, if not only by a fraction of an inch. He didn't show any indication of noticing, and so I was left to my morbid-as-usual thoughts.

_Why did he leave?_

_What did he do?_

_Did he not care about me at all?_

_Was I really just...another girl?_

Each question came up, each question burned. With a bitter feeling cascading freely in my stomach, I realized that these questions were not new; not new at all. In fact, they were the same questions I had asked myself all that time ago. But I had tried my hardest, oh Lord knows I tried to forget him.

My father - so kind, so trusting - had never known of Deidara's existence. I don't know why I never told him about the beautiful blonde boy who had all but literally swept me off my feet. I think I almost did...One time, as he dropped me off home late in October. Possibly, I sat in the passenger seat (soft, tan leather if I remember correctly) collecting my books and lingering for a moment. Maybe Deidara might have spoken, something like, 'You okay?' or maybe 'D'you need any help, hmm?'. In any case, it was too long to remember.

But I had looked at him, right into those vivid cerulean eyes...And I couldn't do it. I couldn't invite him inside, or ask if he wanted to come over one weekend. The words would not form in my mind, and they would not roll off my tongue. Something inside of me just pushed him away, distanced the teen from me. He might have shot me a confused look, I can't remember, but I did scurry out of the car, bid him a hurried goodbye, and run into my house.

..._Why did I do that?_

However, before I could further brood on the answers to the fog of mysterious and unanswerable questions that seem to plague me now, a slight nudge came and we stopped in our tracks. Hell, I almost forgot Deidara was even there.

But he was, and how could I forget about the game? The game for our lives? The game for our freedom?

"Where do you think this ends?" I asked, and the sound of my voice startled me for a moment - it seemed like ages ago that I had last spoken. Deidara could only respond by shrugging and we walked on in further silence.

But this time I did not have anymore questions plague me. No, instead I was once more wrapped in a blanket of suspense, fear, and - of course - concern. And I (always the one to have _impeccable_ timing with these sort of things), blurted out:

"Deidara, why'd you leave?"

He stopped in his tracks, letting his arm fall limply to his side. My skin suddenly felt cold without him, but I was too busy wondering why I had just asked that question to care. I watched as he regarded me with a suspicious look and felt very small.

"And why do you want to know, hmm?" he retorted coolly. I bit my lip and wrapped my arms around my body, just to give them something to do while I thought.

"I don't know. It seems like an important thing to know," was the best I could come up with. The blonde didn't seem satisfied with my answer, and still kept me in an untrusting gaze.

"Why would it seem important, yeah?" he dodged around my question once more. A sharp breath hitched in my throat, and I couldn't help but think of the task that we had just come through. With it, a tiny flame erupted in me, of what I didn't know. But I matched his gaze, and allowed myself to frown.

"Well, I don't know. Definitely couldn't be the fact that after you disappear for two years, I suddenly find you again dealing in possibly illegal activities. And right after that, we get kidnapped and thrown into this fucked up world, where we could very well die," I began to ramble, my frown growing deeper and deeper as I spoke. Deidara looked slightly affronted, and tossed his head.

"You want to have this talk now? Right now, hmm?"

I was just about to throw some snappy retort at him, before the words died down in my throat as a shrill scream filled the room. My heart began to pound in my ribcage, and I jumped a little.

"Shit. What _now_, hmm?!" I could hear Deidara curse under his breath. My eyes suddenly got bigger, and I was on high alert once more.

Squinting down the hallway, I saw a window of some sort. There was a cold tug at my hand, and Deidara was pulling me down the dimly lit hall. The muscles in my hand jumped at his touch, and I allowed a small hoot of joy to ring in my mind. But too soon, I remembered that hell, we were in a game of life and death. Gritting my teeth as we raced closer and closer to the window, I pushed that foolish thought out of my mind and focused on the task at hand. Now panting and out of breath, we quickly reached it and the massive window was rather dirty upon closer inspection.

_Figured. Like this place is clean._

The blonde release my hand a little too quickly to be of any comfort, and I frowned as I pressed my nose to the inside a small room with reddish glow was a man strapped to a chair. My mouth popped open into a little 'o' of horror at the sight I was met with.

In the very center of the room - like some sort of terrible spectacle - lay a man. At first he seemed to be merely lying down on a table of sorts, but then I noticed tiny silver rings around each of his fingers. He was only clothed in a scruffy white shirt and a baggy pair of dark pants, both ripped and torn to tatters. He wore no shoes, and his feet were bare and dirty (or at least, I _hoped_ that the dark mass caked on his feet was dirt). But a glint caught my eyes, and I saw the same tiny rings around each of his toes, and around his ankles, and even around his knees. It was then that I realized that he had rings around nearly every joint in his exposed body (and probably under his clothes too).

"Shit...Shit....Shit, don't tell me..." I barely breathed out, "Please don't tell me-"

But before I could begin to voice my horrors, a dark screen could be seen descending into the small room. I almost screamed, remembering the vivid monster from the previous task. I tried to back away from the window, to run in the other direction, to hide...Anything to get away from what I knew was about to happen. But I couldn't, my body was frozen in place, and I knew my eyes were wide as they fought to take in every single detail of this cruel happening.

A muffled voice started to speak. Although I couldn't hear him I knew what was happening. Then I saw the man's mouth begin to move. Seemingly, out of nowhere a loud buzzer went off, almost as if somebody answered a question wrong on a game show. Then I didn't even see it detach, but there was a loud _thump_ at something hit the window. I jumped back on instinct, and nearly went cross-eyed trying to see the object as it slid down the dirty pane (leaving an oozing trail of some...substance). The seconds passed, and as it hit the floor, it clicked.

_The man's finger was ripped off._

At the same moment I let out a piercing scream, the man's bloody shriek of anguish mingled with mine, creating some sort of horrific song to go along with his deranged spectacle.

One look at Deidara, and I saw that he had become a frozen statue at the window. His face was mere inches from the filthy glass, and his vivid cerulean eyes were widened in pure shock, maybe even terror. And not a second passed before I found myself smothered in cold arms, pulled away from the scene so that all my eyes could see was the blurred cloth of his shirt. His chest rose and fell with strong gasps as he was no doubt trying to calm himself. I let him embrace me for a few moments, before I struggled to crane my neck and meet his eyes. He did not return my gaze at first, and instead pulled me with him against the wall. He closed his eyes, sliding down into a sitting position so that I followed suit and was kneeling.

I looked at him for a long moment; I could see the tension in him even with his eyes closed. I hesitated before placing my hand on his knee and asking:

"Are you alright?"

He took a deep breath, and looked like he was about to finally speak until another ear-splitting scream came from the room. His lips pressed into a taut line, and I was left to fret over him in silence.

Minutes passed, maybe hours - I don't know. The only thing keeping me anchored to reality was the feel of Deidara resting his chin on my head. The screams continued, until they seemed to have finally reached the height of bloody murder. I felt his arms pull me closer, and I didn't not mind (why would I?). So we sat on the cold floor, waiting for this man, this unknown man, to die.

As the screams became weaker, and more faint in their nature, I heard a low chuckle rumble in the blonde's chest. Curiously, I looked up at him, and he finally met my gaze through lidded eyes.

"I'm perfectly fine by the way, yeah," he cracked in an exhausted and weakly sarcastic tone. I offered him a small smile, but it must have looked like a grimace instead.

"You hear that?" I asked him suddenly. His lips curled into a slight frown, and he made to stand up. Reluctantly, I let him go and stood up, stretching.

"It's...Quiet, yeah."

"You don't think...?" I muttered, folding my arms over my chest and shuffling my feet. Deidara didn't answer me, but I knew that he silently agreed with me. Turning away from me, he took a few steps toward a door that I was too distraught to notice before. A groan escaped my lips, and I tottered over to him.

"Please don't tell me we have to go in there," I asked, sounding more like I was on the cusp of pleading. His lips once more pressed into a thin line and he nodded gravely.

"This is the end of the hallway, Shii. There's nowhere else to go, hmm."

"I...I..." I took a deep breath and looked away from him, "I can't stand the sign of blood. I can't go in there..."

A sigh came from the blonde, "Then close your eyes, yeah."

I raised an eyebrow at his suggestion, "You want me to wander around that...Place blind?!"

He said no words, but stood behind me and grabbed my shoulders. I shivered involuntarily, and understood what he meant. So I screwed my eyes shut, and for good measure, held my nose as well.

"Ready, hmm?"

"As I'll ever be."

With a slight push from him, I began to walk slowly. Placing one foot in front of the other carefully, I let him guide me through the room.

"Almost there," he spoke a few minutes later, and I was about to nod when my foot lost balance. I stepped in something slippery and pitched forward. A silent scream went off in my throat, and I fell to the floor blindly. My stomach lurched, anticipating the fall that I knew I could not stop...But it never came.

Instead I hit something warm and soft. It was slightly sticky, and I felt the wetness seep through my clothes. There was a hurried shuffle behind me.

"Shii, don't open your eyes, yeah!"

But his words came too late; my eyes flew open at the impact and...

And...

And...

It was as if somebody drowned all the air from my lungs. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't look away, I was frozen to the spot.

Right on top of the man who was ripped to shreds.

His eyes were wide, wide open and they seemed to stare right at me. His mouth hung at a lopsided angle, blood still oozing from it. I knew that all that sticky wet stuff I felt before was his blood.

I was covered in this dead man's blood.

Everything froze inside me, and I was paralyzed. I was covered in blood. Its scent filled my nostrils, its warmth was all over me...

My mouth dropped open, and I was on the verge of scalding my throat with a blood-curling, high pitched scream...

"Shii? Shii! Look at me, yeah?"

But what was that? Someone calling me? I couldn't think....

"Look at me, Shii!"

The voice sounded far off, but it was getting louder. I couldn't recognize it, not with that blood in the way...

But then that blood went away, and instead a face filled my vision. A face...A familiar face...A beautiful, familiar face.

"Shii!! Are you okay, hmm? Shii?!"

And suddenly I was swept off the floor, and in the air. Two arms were carrying me, but who's? Did they belong to the one with the beautiful face?

His voice was getting louder and louder in my mind, and I felt myself being set down on a hard, dry surface. It wasn't until then did I notice my body had curled itself into a fetal position and I was shaking terribly.

"Shii, look at me, hmm."

The voice came again, directly in front of me. And just like that, I saw that same handsome face. But it was filled with worry and concern, sharp cerulean eyes were looking directly into mine. And then a name came to mind.

_Deidara_.

With that thought, I felt like I could breathe again. So I took a greedy breath, but still couldn't speak. I still didn't know what...What I was going to do.

"Shii?" Two hands held my face, gently as if I was porcelain or something, "You'll be okay, yeah. Do you hear me, hmm? _You'll be okay._"

I'll be...Okay?

"Okay...?" I spoke slowly, looking at the one who spoke, "How do you know, Deidara?"

Saying his name never felt so good. But he fixed me in a fierce stare.

"I know Shii. Because I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

I stared at him with wide eyes, able to see clearly know. A rush of warmth exploded in my chest. He would. I knew he would. I trusted him that much.

"Promise?"

"Promise, yeah. Now let's get out of here, hmm?"

He helped me to my feet, holding me close (I was still shaking slightly). I lifted my head to look at the new room we were in, confused.

It looked like the parlor of some decrepit old Victorian house. The ones you see with all the vampires living in them. The wallpaper was dark, dirty, and peeling off the walls. A few articles of furniture were scatted around the room oddly. And there was some sort of mirror at the center of one of the walls. How strange.

Then there came a _slam!, _and I turned to look at the heavy metal door that just closed behind us. So we were now locked in the room, and my heart began to pound once more in my chest.

As I turned back around, something lining the edged of the ceiling caught my eye. I felt my mouth drop open again.

For there, all around the ceiling, were a load of explosives, all wired together. Then came the whisper from next to me, and I knew that we were, in all honesty, _fucked_;

"Oh..._Shit_."

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**KAZ SPEAKS! **Oho, you thought that was it for the adventures of Deidara and Shii? I think not, my friends. Yeah, yeah so it's a little jumpy with their relationship and Shii's freakout was hastily written. But I think it came out pretty good anyway. And I hope it was long enough to satisfy all needs.

So please do review. Even though I don't deserve them, but they do make me feel better about this story. (And, and, Saw V came out on DVD. YAY!! So I have to go out and get it for meself. ;DD)

Anyway, yeah. I'm done here. Mizu keeps touching the Save button. Damn her. Crazy girl. xDD (Only kidding.)

Ciao!


	7. It'll Be Our Own Private Suicide

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!** You know. It's funny. I've had this sitting in my computer for a long ass time. But I just never got around to uploading it. Ahaha. Well. Yeah. I pretty much like this one. A lot. I don't know why, but this chapter is kinda like another turning point in the story. Read on and you'll see! Other than that, I really have nothing else to say, other than the fact I'm having too much fun with my new Sasuke hair. Well. Sort of. If Sasuke had side fringe. Then, Sasuke hair. xDD Okay, I'll shut up now. Enjoy the story~

**DISCLAIMER! **Um. No. I don't own anything, but Shii. Masashi Kishimoto and Lions Gate Films owns the rest. ;D

* * *

**07. "It'll Be Our Own Private Suicide" **

I'm sure everyone has had times in their lives when they sit to themselves and think, 'Why me?!'. Some others more than some, indefinitely. But maybe some people are just more unfortunate in that way, I don't know.

Like this girl in my old study hall, in my...Sophomore year of high school. Before Deidara came in, in any case. Anyway, this girl's name was...Ehh, Sakura I think. Something to do with flowers. But I can still see her vivid pink hair in my mind. How sad, actually, that all I have to remember her by is her unique hair color.

But back to the point. Sakura here was another one of those people I talked to sporadically and was never close friends with. In fact, I do remember being insanely jealous of her two best friends. Both were male, and I can't remember their names anymore. Uzumaki-something...And that kid who had too much gel in his hair. But I do know that she _definitely_ had a 'Why me?!' moment in life, after that big gang schism that hit Konoha Academy. She lost her long-time crush to a rival gang (not that he died; the fool left her for some creepy new friends. Bastard) and she proceeded to begin to lose her other best friend as he tore himself apart trying to win the other on back.

Terrible, isn't it?

Thinking back now, it must have affected her more that I originally thought.

Because I've had my fair share of these moments as well. Like when my mother was taken away by cancer. Or when I caught my dad indulging in a cigarette here and there (I never picked up the habit, thankfully). And then came that small ray of light, or maybe his hair was just really blonde (Haha, bad joke). In any case, Deidara was that one person, that one person I could count on to make my life seem better.

So you see, maybe I really didn't have some sort of schoolgirl infatuation with him. At least, not back then. Maybe I only used him as a sort of distraction. Maybe I wanted to use him to escape the miserable, gloomy days in Konoha Academy and its surrounding city.

Hell. Thinking back, I'm a pretty selfish bitch.

Well – Haha, God. Haha – I'm paying that selfishness back in full now. Maybe God even owes me some too.

Because this game of death sure is acting as one hell of a punishment.

And right now was one of those _why the Hell me?! _moments. Because, lucky me, I was currently trapped in a shitty room wired with explosives. And the one I cared for deeply (although I'm still unable to explain why, even to myself) was suffering right along side me. Oho, Lady Luck _loves_ us.

"Shiiiiiit," I moaned under my breath, still weak from the previous – _ahem_ – bloodbath. But almost as if he knew what I needed, as if he could read my thoughts, his hand (no longer as cold as it was before, thank God) found it's way to my hand and held it there. I was grateful to have something to anchor me back to reality as my eyes raked over the dozen or so explosives.

But I had no more tears to shed, and my eyes remained dry. No lump formed in my throat at the situation, and I figured that I had either cried myself out already or that...

That I was subconsciously so _sure_ about Deidara's rash promise that I could feel no more fear at such a degree.

Hah. Look at his magical self. Able to charm me into trusting him that much.

"Welcome back Deidara, Ashita," a cold voice greeted smoothly. I flinched, and the hand holding me to reality tightened its grip an infinitesimal bit, but it was enough.

"What now, hmm? We played your sick game, now let us go, yeah." I flinched again at the frosty tone Deidara spoke in, matching the shadowed figure. But Deidara didn't seem to notice my abrasion yet, and he keep his gaze focused on the screen that had dropped down. I was wise enough to keep my sanity together and look away from the figure that I knew would trigger an anxiety attack.

But I could still hear his low, dark chuckle as he was obviously amused with Deidara's attitude. My stomach twisted into a knot inside of me.

"You really think you're done yet, Deidara? Did you honestly believe I'd let you go so soon?" the voice was mocking now, and I was horribly reminded of a child poking an innocent earthworm that had been stupid enough to fall into the child's trap.

The earthworm would try and escape, only to have the terrible child pick it back up in it's filthy fingers and dump it back where it started. The child continued to poke the poor, defenseless and wretched worm into the pavement.

_Poke, poke, poke. _

"You two have only learned the first lesson. There is still so much learned you have to do," the voice was still mocking, definitely amused by us.

_Poke, poke, poke._

"Why, all you've learned is honesty! And even then I'm not certain you've grasped the lesson, Deidara. Tsk, tsk. You might need tutoring, ehh?" I couldn't help but grasp the darker side to that, and my mind coiled around the revolting innuendo with a sick sort of ease. I could already see Deidara, being separated from me and taken away...Somewhere...

And the picture of the poor, unknown and now dead man from before sprang up in my mind. But now it was Deidara who was in that room, slowly being ripped to shreds as he lied, lied for some unknown and worthless cause. Foolish pride...

_Poke, poke, poke._

"Shut up!! Shut the Hell up! Deidara's fine, alright? He played your twisted game and he made it through. You can't take him away from me if he didn't do anything wrong!!"

Ah. So I wasn't all cried out after all.

Panting, I ripped my hand away from Deidara and rubbed away at the hot, angry tears; I could see the blonde looking at me, surprised at my outburst. Even the cold voice was silent.

"Hmm. Take Deidara way from _you? _I didn't know you had some sort of claim to the boy, Ashita..."

_Poke, poke, poke._

Face on fire, I looked down at me feet and tried to block out everything. But I was incapable of such a task, and instead willed the tears to stop. They did, and the voice went on.

"So now that I have your attention, it's time for the second lesson, yes? Firt you have learned honesty, and now you will learn sacrifice. Deidara, I'm sure you can recognize the explosives around the room?"

The voice paused, and left time for the blonde to squint further at the bombs (from my point of view, they were very crude and looked like the type you would see on a terrorist move of something of the sort). His lips pressed into a thin line, and I vaguely wondered why Deidara would be asked these questions.

"They're C2. Strong enough to kill us, but not strong enough to level the building, if placed right, yeah..." He seemed to be speaking more to himself than anything. With a tiny click, I remembered that the blonde was a bombs expert. _And tried to kill me_, a nasty little voice in my head spoke. I chose to ignore it.

"Good, good..." the voice drawled, "There is a glass in the middle of the end wall here. Your task is to make the sacrifice, break it, and survive. If not, you die."

_Poke, poke, poke._

_Squish._

The little boy poked too hard, and broke the tiny worm, leaving it to ooze out on the streets.

My stomach felt like it was vacuumed out of my belly button, and I chewed furiously at my bottom lip. Suddenly, I saw a timer just behind the screen. Red, neon flashed the number 3:00.

"When the timer runs out, the room explodes. Good luck..." And with a parting laugh, the screen slid back into the ceiling. A tiny _beep_ followed, and the timer began it's countdown.

_2:59_

Deidara and I were frozen for only a second, before we snapped out of our stupor and wildly looked around. I found the mirror quickly and ran at it, thinking it surely must break under my weight (however slight). I took a breath and felt the burning sensation as my body rammed against the glass. But no reassuring break came.

I fell to the ground, staring at the mirror and seeing my own wide sapphire eyes staring back at me. Only a tiny crack sprang up where I had hit it.

Instantly, I was lifted up off the grainy floor; I had only a moment to breath in his scent before he pulled my clinging body away from his. I must have glared at him or something, because the next thing I got was;

"Shii. Focus. We don't have time for this, yeah."

I grimaced and nodded silently, looking around the room for anything that may have been useful. Instantly, I spotted a chair. Running over to it, I gripped the back of the wooden thing so hard that my knuckles turned white. Lunging at the door, I smashed the rotted bit of wood against it, only to have the chair crumble to pieces and leaving only a few cracks in it's place. I cursed.

Until there was another loud smash. Jumping away, I could only just catch the remnants of a broken hat stand (the old fashioned ones) being thrown from Deidara's hands and a few more, bigger cracks springing up. So we were making progress.

Heart pounding in my chest, I looked at the timer; _2:34._

Muttering various curses under my breath, I reached for the next closest thing – a large vase. It slipped for a moment in my hands, but then I regained composure and flung it at the mirror. With a satisfying crash, more and more cracks appeared.

A tiny, ghost of smile floated on my lips for a moment, until a bowling ball was hurled at the mirror. A louder crash, and more cracks blossomed. But still the mirror did not break. I looked around wildly again, but my heart dropped to the floor; there was nothing left. Only a bookshelf, and I was much to weak to help Deidara throw it against the damned mirror. A few objects were on the dusty shelves, and one of the caught my eye. Was...Was that a picture of me and Deidara? What?!

"Shii! There's...There's nothing left, yeah," I heard the pants come suddenly, and jumped – only just able to shove it in my pants pocket before he noticed. I jogged up next to him, and took note of the _1:56 _flashing above his blonde head.

"We're going to have to break the thing down. That's the...Uh, the only way..." I muttered, still burning from the hit I took before. Deidara looked concerned only for a second (and I only hoped that it was directed towards himself), and then I found myself swirling down to Earth as his hand took a hold of mine once more. I allowed the smug thought that they interlocked so seamlessly and perfectly to ferment in my mind for only a second, before shooing the distracting thought away from me.

Taking a breath, and nodding at him, we ran. I held my breath, bracing for the impact. I only let the breath of air escape me when the impact came. And then I was flat on the floor, feeling like my very bones were reverberating inside of me. Once more, I was instantly pulled to my feet, and then I was ushered back some. I felt a tiny ray of hope fill me as more and more cracks appeared. Maybe once more...

The pain came again as I let the side of my body take the hit. Unrelenting, I could feel the glass bend under out weight, but then I was on the floor again and the mirror stood there, almost mocking us with all its daunting cracks. Once more I was helped to my feet, but then I came crashing down to the floor again. A gasp escaped my lips as two arms wrapped themselves securely, and maybe even a bit protectively, around my waist and supported me. I had to crane my neck to see, but his worried look told me what I already knew.

Stupid mirror. Now I'm hurt.

Damn.

"Deida-"

"No. Stay here, un."

And I almost thought he had mind reading powers again. Or maybe I'm just that predictable. Who knows? Hell, I wonder if it's because he knows me so we –

_Crash!_

I knew the glass had broken before I looked up, and I felt hope swell inside of my like a balloon. Before I could even wonder how I got on the floor in the first place (too sucked up in my thoughts to notice he out me down, no doubt), I was on my feet again and being half-carried, half-dragged to the opening that appeared where the mirror was.

I stole another furtive glance at the clock; _00:45_

But then my vision of the room faltered, and I thought I went blind for a wild second. However, my eyes soon adjusted to the new, much dimmer light, and I saw we were together in a space no bigger than a mere closet.

On a normal day, I would have blushed.

"Are...Are we done?" I dared not speak in higher than a whisper. I felt Deidara shrug.

But I could only gasp with fright as a new pane of glass, bigger than the last, slid over the opening we just came from. Breaking free of Deidara, I staggered over to the glass, and could barely see the room through the translucent pane. Only a bright, yet blurry, _00:31_ was visible.

I didn't want to see more, and was only too happy to let myself be engulfed by his protective arms once more. Until I heard the screams, that is.

They were slightly muffled, and I peeked over the edge of Deidara's shoulder. He was standing almost right in front of a second glass pane, blocking it from my view.

"Don't look, yeah," he whispered into my ear. I shivered, and decided it was best to comply. So I only buried my face deeper into his chest, and allowed him to carry/drag me to another corner of the room and wait in silence.

Who knew it would take so long to wait for someone to die?

In my head, I counted.

_One..._

_Two..._

_Three..._

The screams became higher in pitch, and I could tell there were at least three people in that other room. And I knew that they were like us, having survived the first task, but now stuck in the second. But unlike us, they did not make it. They lingered too long, and Deidara and I had gotten out of the explosive room and into the safe room first. We had condemned them.

And there came the sacrifice.

We sacrificed them so that we could live.

And then the bombs went off in both rooms, and I did not want to look. I did not want to let go of Deidara and come out into the house again.

I wanted to stay in his arms, and be protected, be held safe – if only for this small moment. But I wanted that moment to last forever.

Once the tremors in the room (cause by the explosion) stopped, I finally found the breath to speak.

"We killed them," I moaned into Deidara's chest. His breathing was clam and even, and comforting to me.

"I know, yeah," was the simple response. I then noticed that we had slid to the ground, and I was actually positioned in his lap; it didn't matter to me anymore.

"They're gone. Those people...I didn't know them...They might have been good..." I was almost positive Deidara could hear the hysteria creeping into my voice. And I must have been right, because his hand was suddenly at my head, stroking the matted stands of my once pretty hair.

"I know," he said again. And that was enough. Once more, it was enough for now.

I giggled suddenly, and he shot me a concerned look – thinking I had snapped, no doubt. But I didn't dare tell him what had gone through my mind, so I could only try and stifle the giggles.

_**Deidara the depressant.**__ Use as directed. Take no more than the required dose, and signs of anxiety/worry will fade. Consult a doctor if feelings of dependency or adoration develop._

_Expiration date –_

A loud creak interrupted my thoughts, and I peeked up warily. A new door had opened, and a warm light came from inside. I blinked, and stared at the place, unmoving.

Could it be...?

Were we finally free...?

"Deidara, do...What do we d-do?" I barely breathed. I noticed a falter in his breathing, and I know he was thinking the same thing I was.

_Was this the end?_

He pulled me to my feet gently, and I hardly noticed his arm as it wrapped around my shoulders in that protective gesture once more. My eyes, I knew, must have been practically popping out of my head in wonder by now. We moved agonizingly slow, but time didn't seem to pass.

Until we reached it, and my mouth dropped open. But not in horror. **In surprise**.

Because it was that inside the room that a bunch of other bewildered people stumbled in, and one of them even came up to me – a pretty, sandy-haired girl marred by the horror in her eyes.

"Did you survive too? Do you know what to do once your reach the safe-house?"

I blinked, not understanding;

"S-Safe...House...?"

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And because I love my readers so much;

**CHAPTER EIGHT PREVIEW:**

_But...But... _

_Even then I couldn't have accepted it. _

_Deidara?_

_My Deidara? _

_In a gang? And killing, stealing, and doing all sorts of thing that would make my hair curl? But then those stone-cold words ran through me. Spoken by Satsujin himself, and the first crack on my image of Deidara. _

_"I can tell you things about him that would make your pin-straight hair curl, Ashita..." _

_Things about him._

_**What things...?**_

* * *

**KAZ SPEAKS! **So now that I'm finally ahead of schedule with writing this, I felt that a preview was in order. ;D Anyway. How was it? I tried out a new style of writing. And I want to know if it's any good.

So. Um. I finally got to the first twist. Like, five months after Halloween. xDD

And more and more new characters will dribble in. Plus, oh no! Deidara's first painful...Sorrow-thing will pop in around Ch. 8-9. Because I think Deidara should have his life fucked up a little more. Muahaha. Kaz be evil.

Anyway, MAJOR thanks to **Kami-Inu** for the amazingly long review. And more thanks to everyone else who reviewed. I love you all!! -throws confetti!-

Ciao for now~!


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